NBA: Most Top 5 MVP finishes...

murksiderock

murksiderock

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With a minimum of 5:

15
Kareem (6x MVP, '73 runner-up)

14
LeBron (4x MVP, 4x runner-up)

11
Russell (5x MVP, 2x runner-up)
Kobe ('08 MVP, '09 runner-up)

10
Mike (5x MVP, 3x runner-up)
Wilt (4x MVP, 2x runner-up)

9
Bird (3x MVP, 4x runner-up)
Magic (3x MVP, 2x runner-up)
Duncan (2x MVP, 2x runner-up)
Karl (2x MVP, '98 runner-up)
Oscar ('64 MVP, '65 runner-up)

8
Pettit (2x MVP, 2x runner-up)
Shaq ('00 MVP, 2x runner-up)
West (3x runner-up)

7
Elgin ('63 runner-up)

6
KD ('14 MVP, 3x runner-up)
Harden ('18 MVP, 3x runner-up)
Dream ('94 MVP, '93 runner-up)
Ewing

5
Moses (3x MVP)
KG ('04 MVP, 2x runner-up)
Robinson ('95 MVP, 2x runner-up)
Dr J ('81 MVP, '80 runner-up)
CP3 ('08 runner-up)

Cats on here shyt on Top 5 MVP finishes as "participation awards" when it doesn't benefit their guy but the evidence shows that the more you are a Top 5 candidate, it is an indicator of you being one if the very best players ever with no exception...

Of the 24 guys to finish Top 5 at least 5 times, only 4 guys never won it at least once (Paul, Ewing, Baylor, Logo). Ewing is an even bigger anomaly, he's the only guy who never won an MVP or finished second...

All 24 of these guys are considered among the greatest 35 players ever, every single one, so being a Top 5 finisher 5x or more speaks very much to your credibility as an All-Timer. It speaks to your longevity as a Top 10 player---->nobody finishes Top 5 in MVP voting who wasn't a Top 10 player in that given season...

Which means, you maintained a level of elite, Top 10 play over a sustained period of time, for a half-decade or longer. This is rare, most guys can't have that longevity and durability...

The Consensus Top 18 of All-Time GOATs, and 20 of the Top 25 consensus GOATs, are all in this list of 24 guys. The only players who are presently viewed as Top 25 GOATs who don't have 5+ Top 5 MVP years are Steph, Chuck, Dirk, Wade, and Hondo...

Pettit, Paul, Ewing, and Harden are the lowest ranked players on this list but again, all are by majority opinion viewed as Top 35 All-Timers...
 
murksiderock

murksiderock

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MyApps said:
A Top 5 vote is essentially an ESPN stat.

Some useless stat that is used to prop up a player.

Usually by any means necessary.
Click to expand...

How is this the case when the NBA MVP, abd MVP voting as a result, predate ESPN?

Of the 24 ballers that qualify six played the entirety of their careers before BSPN even existed, Kareem won 5 of his 6 MVPs before BSPN even existed...

Most important you gotta link me to where you've seen MVP make this topic the way I have. I've never seen it, it's just something that occurred to me several years back that guys who are perennially in the MVP conversation are All-Timers. Deriding it as "useless" is kinda ignorant, you can literally frame the historical reference of the greatest players of all time with this metric with rare exception...
 
malbaker86

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Im tryna rack my brain when Duncan 2nd MVP runner up came. I know it was when Malone won it during the 50 game season but im tryna remember the other one
 
KidJSoul

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It's part of why I don't view Kawhi that highly.

How many years has Kawhi genuinely been a top 5 ish player in the league? Like 3?
2017 (kd, Curry, Bron, Harden, Westbrook would all be ranked ahead arguably though), 2020?

Top 5 MVP VOTES isn't a perfect metric, but i get it OP.
 
KidJSoul

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But there's some flaws with this:

Kareem gets more than he should, as back then, he was able to get an MVP with his team missing the playoffs.

Players the last 40 years (up until Westbrook) usually ain't get that shyt if they weren't a top 3 seed sometimes.
 
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KidJSoul said:
But there's some flaws with this:

Kareem gets more than he should, as back then, he was able to get an MVP with his team missing the playoffs.

Players the last 40 years (up until Westbrook) usually ain't get that shyt if they weren't a top 3 seed sometimes.
Click to expand...
Players voted for the award when KAJ was racking them up.
 
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